It's been FOREVER since I last posted here. Bad me! *hides cookies*
So.....what's been up with me in my writer's mind?
I have for now set aside God's Gate. I never actually sat down and worked out a plot outline nor developed some main characters (never mind secondary). I did get some excellent feedback from people who have read it, which strengthened my confidence in my skills and abilities, but I know that I have to work on some weak points. Like, oh...knowing what the hell I want to have happen in the story. :) Besides, another tale has taken over my mind, and that's where my focus is. I will eventually pick God's Gate back up, just not sure exactly when. I just got very tired of blocking every time I reached a point where I didn't know what I wanted to do with the story and the characters.
The new tale is a Historical Romance, set in the year 520 amid the struggle for territory between the Britions and the incoming Saxons. I have a full plot sketched out and am in the process of researching the era as best I can and sketching out my characters. The tale within the plot is already forming in my mind, so I feel beyond good about when I actually start writing this one.
I joined a couple of academic lists, one Anglos Saxon and the other Arthurian, where I have posed some questions about era and events and territory, in the effort to place things as closely as possible in my head. And I told my husband that I wanted to take a trip to England this summer if we could do it financially to the area in question so that I can see the lay of the land for myself and possibly even pop into certain ruins and archeological sites to help me visualize what it once was. For God's Gate, the setting was easy, cause I live here. This as yet untitled tale, well, I've never been to England. Right now I'm working off of pictures, maps and other people's descriptions. I hope we can afford to go!
So, that's the update in a nutshell I suppose. Oh, and so ya'll know just want kind of information I've been seeking in my research, here's the questions I've posed to those academic lists!
1) Cerdic, who is viewed as the founder of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of
Wessex, appears to have actually been either British or mixed
British/SaxonBlood. According to the books The Anglo-Saxons, The
beginnings of the English nation by Geoffrey Hindley, and A Brief
History of British Kings and Queens by Mike Ashley, he is of the Gewisse
tribe from the area of the Welsh Marches. Is there an academic paper or
mention in some publication that would elaborate on this? If not, I
think I could manage to create some reasonings/events that would lead to
his invasion in 495 with Saxon mercinaries that wouldn't be all that
unfeasable. But I'd like to try to function within the realm of
historical possibilities.
(note, in referring back to certain reference material, the area the
Gewisse are associated with is actually the Upper Thames region. This
of course can help me with creating his motivations for invading with
Saxon mercinaries)
2) Cerdic's son/grandson. Cynric. Is there any general consensious as
to which he is?
3) According to the ASC, in 508 Cerdic defeated King Natanleod at the
Battle of Netley. I found a community near Southhampton of that name.
Is it reasonable to assume this is the general area?
4) After the Battle of Netley, it's noted that King Natanleod and his
men retreated back to Venta Belgarum/Winchester. Is it known how long
they remained in the Winchester area before moving west as the Saxons
under Cerdic expanded? Or were they simply absorbed?
5) I found reference to a rural village called North Charford being
named Cerdicesford after the Battle of Netley. Was this for a brief
period considered the Saxon stronghold/capital? If so, for how long do
you suppose?
6) I found reference to Dorchester-On-Thames in Oxfordshire being the
capital of the Kingdom of Wessex before 634 when it was handed over to
the church by King Cynegils and the capital moved to Winchester. Around
what period would the Saxons have made it that far north from the
Southampton area? (as per my note in question 1, this appears to have
been right smack in the traditional area of the Gewisse)
7) Silchester/Calleva Atrebatum. I know that current (or as current as
I know of, I've only so far skimmed the website) archeology says that
this particular town was totally abandoned at some point after the
Romans left Britian. However, I stumbled over reference to it also
being a stronghold of British resistance to the Saxon push between 495
and 519 (when Cerdic founded the Kingdom of Wessex). How likely is
this? If unknown, is it historically feasable for me to use it in my
novel as a stronghold for the British tribes of the Artebates (who's
capital it was) and the Regnenses (and possibly the Belgae)?
8) By 520, approximately how much area did Wessex cover? (I'm working
with modern maps of the area in order to help me place the story in my
head, and plotting geographical points on them). In other words, how
much land did the Saxons control? What towns?
9) Religion Question. What I know of early Christianity in the British
Isles is mostly regarding the Irish Church. Do you recommend any
particular publications to help me with the Church in Britian around
this time period? My female protaganist is British and Christian, the
male Saxon and Pagan. While I have resources to help me approximate
Saxon religion and belief, I need to juxtapose this next to the
Christian. And what books I do have focus, again, on the Irish Church.
